Wanderlust, that unstoppable urge to travel, can take many forms and shapes. One can travel on trains, planes, and ships, or do some serious hitch-hiking. From the days of Marco Polo, the great Italian traveler of the middle ages to a plethora of modern-day travelers, Mother Earth has been traversed several times by those willing to enjoy its myriad charms.
But journalist turned IRAS officer Rajat Ubhaykar took an altogether different route to whet his appetite for experiencing new terrains. He traveled several thousand kilometers across the length and breadth of India simply by hitch-hiking in trucks!
In an exclusive conversation with Indian Masterminds, Mr. Ubhaykar talks about his adventures while hitchhiking across the country, and his many experiences with the truck drivers of India.
A BURNING PASSION
Mr. Ubhaykar was formerly a journalist with Outlook Business Magazine. While he was in his early twenties, he realized that his true passion lies in traveling across the nation and exploring everything that exists in the country. But he wanted to do it in a different way.
He wished to travel with truck drivers because he felt this was one section of the society about whom not many people knew and hardly anyone seemed to care.
“No one was aware about what goes on in the highways and how are the lives of these truck drivers in reality. I wanted to bring them to the forefront and therefore I made up my mind to go on this totally unplanned trip and see where my destiny takes me to,” Mr. Ubhaykar told Indian Masterminds.
So one day, having made up his mind, he entered his editor’s office and told her about his desire to travel and that he wished to leave his job to go for a hitchhiking trip with the truck drivers. The plan was to travel all over the country for 3-4 months.
“Surprisingly,’’ recalled Mr Ubhaykar, “the editor asked me to keep my job and suggested that I write a six part series for them, based on my journey. She told me that I could continue to draw my salary while I’m at the journey. Everything fell into place and I began my travels up and down the country.”
ON THE ROAD
Initially, Mr. Ubhaykar was a little scared as to how he would survive with truck drivers without any first-hand experience with them. He knew that they belonged to different worlds and therefore, before stepping out on the highway, he visited truck terminals in and around Mumbai and interacted with truckers there to get a sense of their world.
“This experience helped me to partly get rid of this fear; given how warm and open these truckers were with me. I realized genuine curiosity and interest were probably sufficient to overcome this class differential. And to my relief, during the journey, this fear progressively evaporated with every trucker I hitched with, who treated me with the kind of honesty and generosity I can say I had never experienced before,” he said.
Talking about his experiences, the officer stated that given the diversity and vastness of India, he came across several stories and opinions that changed his perceptions about life.
“For instance, while I was hitchhiking in Kashmir, I hitchhiked alongside nomadic shepherds called gujjars and bakarwals, who had an ancient traveling system wherein they go from plains to the mountains during summers and retrace their steps during during winters. Hitchhiking with them and talking to them about life gave me a unique perspective of the kind of people that live in India. Even North East India was an interesting experience,” he said.
TRUCK DE INDIA
A graduate from the Asian College of Journalism, and an electrical engineer from IIT Kanpur, Mr. Ubhaykar penned down his experiences in his travelogue, ‘Truck De India: A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Hindustan’ where he narrated his encounters embarking on a 10,000 km-long, 100% unplanned trip, hitchhiking with truckers all across India.
On the way, he made unexpected friendships, listened to highway ghost stories, and discovered the near-fatal consequences of overloading trucks. In Punjab, he documented the fascinating tradition of truck art. He traveled the insurgent-ridden highways through Nagaland and Manipur but was unfailingly greeted by the unconditional kindness from perfect strangers.
ENTERING THE CIVIL SERVICE
Mr Ubhaykar’s passion and determination to learn more about India and expand his worldview while bringing about a change for good in the country led him to the doorsteps of UPSC.
“My experiences with the truck drivers and as a journalist brought me closer to the people of my country. It gave me a firsthand knowledge of their requirements. I understood that serving the government would help me influence and serve people in a better manner; therefore I started preparing for UPSC while I was simultaneously writing the book,” says Mr. Ubhaykar.
He recently cleared the UPSC examination and is now waiting for his first posting. As to how will he balance out his travel and work as a civil servant, he believes his priority will be public interest and he will find a way to travel in between, to keep his passion alive.
